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History

Antiquity & Middle Ages

The pagan Temple of Garni, built in ancient Armenia.

Several bronze-era states flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including the Hittite Empire and Mitanni. Both of these former nations participated in the ethnogenesis of the modern-day Armenian people. Yerevan, the modern-day capital of Armenia, was founded in 782 BCE by King Argishiti I. Yerevan is the world's oldest city to have documented the exact date of its foundation. During the late 6th century BC, the first entity that was called Armenia by neighboring populations was established under the Orontid Dynasty within the Achaemenid Empire, a predecessor to modern-day Iran. Eventually, the nation became fully independent under King Artaxias I, however it was still in the Persian. Throughout its history, the Armenian kingdom enjoyed periods of both independence and autonomy subject to surrounding empires. However, Armenia's strategic location between Europe and Asia resulted in the nation being invaded by numerous different peoples, including but not limited to the Greeks, Persians, Turks, Mongols, and the Russians. Religion in ancient Armenia was historically related to a set of beliefs which led to the rise of Zoroastrianism in Persia. Christianity spread into the country as early as AD 40. King Tiridates III made it the official religion; making Armenia the first Christian state in all of history. The Armenian kingdom fell in 428 BCE, and it was incorporated back into Persia. After the conquest of Persia by the Caliphate, Armenia became the autonomous Emirate of Armenia. The emirate was ruled by the Prince of Armenia, and recognized by the Caliph and the Byzantine Emperor. In 1045, the Byzantines conquered the then-independent Armenian state; however Seljuk Turks took it shortly after at the Battle of Manzikert. An ethnic Armenian kingdom was founded during the Crusades, however it wasn't located in the territory of Greater Armenia.

Early Modern era

During the 1230s, the Mongol Empire conquered all of Greater Armenia. The Mongol invasions were soon followed by other Central Asian tribes such as the Kara Koyunlu, Timurids and Ak Koyunlu. In the 16th century, Armenia was divided between the Persians and Ottomans, however later all of Armenia fell under Persian rule. Because of the century-long Turkish-Persian rivalry, the lands of Armenia were fought over constantly between the two empires. From the mid-16th century to the first half of the 19th century, Western Armenia remained Ottoman while the east was Persian; the latter portion was ruled by the successive Persian and Safavid, Afsharid and Qajar empires while Western Armenia remained purely under Ottoman rule as it was more stable. During the early 1800s, the Russians and the Persians went to war twice; mostly over the Caucasian regions in which Armenia lied in. In 1828, Qajar Persia was forced to cede all of east Armenia. After centuries of Persian rule, Armenia fell into a Russian-dominated era. While Western Armenia still remained under Ottoman rule, the Armenians were granted considerable autonomy and lived in harmony with the empire's other ethnic groups. During the 1890s, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, commonly known as Dashnaktsutyun, became active within the Ottoman owned regions of Armenia.

Modern era

Armenia was notorious during the World War due to the horrific genocide which happened in the western portions. After war broke out once again between the Ottomans and Persians, the government began to look at Armenians with distrust and suspicion, mostly because the Imperial Russian contained a large number of Armenian volunteers. On April 25 1915, Armenian intellectuals were arrested by Ottoman authorities, and with the Tehcir Law passed on May 29 1915, a large number of Armenians in Anatolia perished during the Armenian Genocide. The genocide was implemented in two phases: the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour, followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly and infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian desert. The Armenian Genocide is acknowledged to have been one of the first modern genocides. These events are traditionally commemorated yearly on 24 April, the Armenian Martyr Day, or the Day of the Armenian Genocide. The modern-day republic was founded in eastern Armenia shortly after, during the Russian Civil War. At that time, At the time, Russian-controlled Eastern Armenia, Georgia, andAzerbaijan attempted to fuse together to form the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, however this was short-lived and replaced with the modern-day republic, under the leadership of Aram Manukian. The early history of modern Armenia was fraught with war and territorial disputes, leading to Armenia starting as a poor, impoverished state. After all of this subsided, however, Armenia took a quick path to prosperity, becoming a relatively wealthy nation who benefits from trade with Russia and Iran.